Day 3 Round-Up: FIBA Asia U16 Championship

JOHOR BAHRU (FIBA Asia U16 Championship) - Japan added the element of drama and Philippines added the element of variety as the Preliminary Round proceedings drew to a close in the inaugural FIBA Asia U16 Championship on Saturday.

Philippines joined China, Iran and Korea as the teams to move into the Quarterfinal Round with an all-win record. Philippines also are the only team from their sub-zone, with all the other seven having company from teams from their sub-zones in their own Groups.

Japan defeated Kazakhstan 78-66, and by more than the necessary margin to win the three-way tie, to join fellow East Asian nations China, Korea and Chinese Taipei in Group I.

SEABA’s Philippines have three West Asian teams – Iran, Jordan and Syria who finished in that order in the WABA U16 Championship last month – for company in Group II.

The top two teams from Group I and II will make it to the semifinals, the penultimate step towards earning a berth in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship to be held in Germany next July.

Philippines had become the first team to post three wins from as many games in the first game of the day, beating Bahrain 62-45 to take the top position in Group B.

China cantered past India 121-47 to finish on top in Group A. Jordan had earlier defeated Saudi Arabia 59-36 to take the second spot.

In Group C action, Korea played with customary color and went past Syria 103-61 in a clash that decided the Group toppers. Singapore’s 61-45 result earlier kept Kuwait winless.

Iran were as impressive as ever in beating hosts Malaysia 97-52 for the top spot in Group D. Chinese Taipei finished second following their 92-34 triumph over Thailand.

Groupings for Quarterfinal Round

Group I: China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea.
Group II: Iran, Jordan, Philippines, Syria.
Group III: India, Bahrain, Singapore, Thailand.
Group IV: Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia.

No problems for China, Jordan

China’s size, speed and skills proved more than handy for India as Jordan chose to play at a relaxed pace yet achieve the necessary result against Saudi Arabia.

China opened the floodgates early in the second quarter to breeze their way through.

Guo Ailun and Zhu Xuhang played with customary cohesion and were the leaders of the Chinese barrage. Both scored 23 points each.

India, who were dogged in defense, however failed to cope with the speed of the Chinese.

That they collected 23 rebounds against the much taller Chinese was an interesting point.

Jordan began slowly, but grew stronger steadily against Saudi Arabia.

Malek Kanaan produced another team-high performance leading Jordan’s scoring with 20 points.

Japan achieve objective in style

Japan needed to beat Kazakhstan by at least five points in order to make the top groups in the Quarterfinal Round, but the East Asian nation went a lot more steps than that in achieving their objective.

Japan’s victory left them tied with Kazakhstan and Bahrain at 1-2 in win-loss all the three having lost to Philippines, but beating each other. In the ensuing tie-breaker, Japan’s goal average of +1.073 – facilitated by the big win – was better than Kazakhstan’s +0.977 and Bahrain’s +0.945.

Japan’s margin was larger than that, but what would have come as a welcome relief for coach Hideki Togashi was the manner in which the target was accomplished.

Japan played hide and seek for the first five minutes, but once they settled into their groove there was no looking back.

Ryo Tawatari scored 15of his game-high 28 points in the second half, a period during which Japan asserted control.

Taiki Uehara’s 14 points came in handy in the Japanese cause.

Alexander Zhigulin’s 23 points and 22 rebounds – the latter a game-high – thus went in vain.

Philippines had to sort out their coordination issues but on achieving that, hit cruise mode to defeat Bahrain.

Philippines found their hero for the day in Cris Tolomia.

The 178-cm pocket powerhouse drew a blank in the first quarter – at the end of which Bahrain nosed ahead 19-13 – and scored his first points only in the latter part of the second. The first of what eventually went on to become a game-high 27 points.

Kiefer Ravena capped a steal to put Philippines ahead for the first time in the game with about a minute left in the first half, they didn’t trail after that.

Mansoor Hussain and Ali Ahmed Jamal began the Bahrain charge with a breeze scoring six and seven points respectively in the first quarter. The former added only eight more for the rest of the game and the latter none and there ended Bahrain’s chances.

Fadhel Mohammed was the highest scorer for Bahrain with 15 points.

Attractive Korea

Korea opened up an early lead and then played for time as they beat WABA U16 Championship bronze medalists Syria.

Korea left nothing to chance right from the word go and racked up a formidable 27-11 lead in the first five minutes.

Hyosub Shin scored seven, including a crisp three-pointer, of his game-high 22 points and Choi Seunghook eight of his 18 during the first five minutes of the game in the Korean tornado that took the winds off Syrian sails.

The Korean lead only grew for the rest of the game.

Singapore overcame a mid-game slump to defeat Kuwait for their first win.

The defeat, Kuwait’s third in a row, left the Gulf nation at the bottom of Group C.

Impressive Iran

It was yet another day in office for Ghasem Kianin’s boys as Iran took their anointed place on top of Group D with a facile result over hosts Malaysia.

Mir Fattahi and Soheil Yousefi were as usual Iran’s leading scorers with 22 points each, the former also collecting 18 rebounds.

Amir Sedighi was another Iranian youngster with a double-double collecting a rebound lesser than his dozen points.

An incredible 35-7 scoring advantage in the second quarter marked Chinese Taipei’s win against Thailand.

Thailand caught their better fancied rivals by surprise by raking up a 16-7 lead to close the first quarter.

But that was a lead that flattered to deceive as Taipei tightened their defense and began to score with wonted rhythm.

Chen Ying-chun scored nine of his game-high 22 points in the second quarter to spark the Taipei charge.

Scores

Group A

China 121 (Guo Ailun 23, Zhu Xuhang 23, Shi Hongfei 20, Luo Hanchen 13, Wang Zirui 13) bt India 47 (Ajay Pratap Singh 9). Quarterwise Scores: 23-16, 64-21, 93-33.

Jordan 59 (Malek Kanaan 20, Fakhri Al-Syouri 10) bt Saudi Arabia 36. Quarterwise Scores: 17-11, 28-17, 44-23.

Group B

Philippines 62 (Cris Tolomia 27) bt Bahrain 45 (Fadhel Mohammed 15, Mansoor Hussain 14). Quarterwise Scores: 13-19, 31-28, 44-37.

Japan 78 (Ryo Tawatari 28, Taiki Uehara 14) bt Kazakhstan 66 (Alexander Zhigulin 23, Alexey Kuruchka 15, Alymzhan Maxutov 10). Quarterwise Scores: 20-15, 35-30, 55-42.

Group C

Korea 103 (Hyosub Shin 22, Choi Seunghook 18, Jonghyun Lee 16, Dongyeop Lee 15) bt Syria 61 (Muhammad Otabachi 13, Aghyad Rahal 11). Quarterwise Scores: 49-20, 63-29, 81-47.

Singapore 61 (Larry Liew 24, Remus Low 14, Russel Low 13) bt Kuwait 45 (Hussain Shuaib 21, Abdullah Albader 11). Quarterwise Scores: 12-5, 19-20, 41-33.

Group D

Chinese Taipei 92 (Chen Ying-chun 22, Wang Jen-chieh 14, Chung Wei-peng 12) bt Thailand 34 (Paramet Kongsang 12, Niwat Thongkam 10). Quarterwise Scores: 7-16, 42-19, 59-30.

Iran 97 (Mir Fattahi 22, Soheil Yousefi 22, Amir Sedighi 12, Mohammad Ojaghi 10, Sajjad Mashayekhi 10) bt Malaysia 52 (Ang Vui Hang 15). Quarterwise Scores: 23-11, 52-21, 78-40.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia